tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post5293372836018201288..comments2017-12-13T20:47:32.016-05:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Not strictly adhering to tempo / SAT 2-16-13 / Consul composer / Year Tosca premiered / Zulu's counterpart / Orange children's character / Triple platinum Gloria Estefan album with Rhythm Is Gonna Get You / Creature whose English name genus name are same Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34663849135494643342013-03-23T16:38:14.197-04:002013-03-23T16:38:14.197-04:00Lol
Lol<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55370680988496071982013-03-23T15:21:50.650-04:002013-03-23T15:21:50.650-04:00There was something just a bit off with this puzzl...There was something just a bit off with this puzzle for me. The first to fall was the NE and, ironically, the last to fall was the NW, given that I was staring at MOZILLA. I already had ----MEGAMES for 7D. Finally, FIREFOX came to the front, then XTREMEGAMES, and then the rest fell.<br /><br />Maybe it was the iffy cluing of &quot;What a screen may block.&quot; Also, didn&#39;t Tosca premiere in 1899?<br /><br />@Strayling, let me add to @Dirigonzo&#39;s (our syndie &quot;Chairman&quot;) welcome, especially to a fellow Seattleite. Go Hawks! Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-92137021384230168042013-03-23T13:53:49.857-04:002013-03-23T13:53:49.857-04:00Too many unknowns for me! First pass through resu...Too many unknowns for me! First pass through resulted in a bunch of s&#39;s scattered around with SENTA hanging off one of them. Finally got a toehold and did everything south of 19A, but just couldn&#39;t hack the top. FIREFOX MOZILLA or MOZILLA FIREFOX means nothing to me, though I have heard the words. Add to that some band, a variation on a sports name, and the horrible, not cracked by me, SKEETERS and you have a 2/3 solve that I am happy to accept. Think I need a cup of tea.DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19530414353594630842013-02-19T16:16:27.113-05:002013-02-19T16:16:27.113-05:00@7:38 Anon - See the comment above from Ellen S. ...@7:38 Anon - See the comment above from Ellen S. John Wayne starred in two movies with very similar titles, but only one of them was released in 1934.<br />jim-bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03024488370553690685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34869485053461455122013-02-18T07:38:37.664-05:002013-02-18T07:38:37.664-05:00The clue for 29A said &quot;________ Arizona Skies...The clue for 29A said &quot;________ Arizona Skies&quot; looking for &#39;NEATH but the movie title is actually &quot;&#39;Neath the Arizona Skies.&quot; Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88850473300123240252013-02-18T02:08:56.961-05:002013-02-18T02:08:56.961-05:00Hey there, Geordie Girl, yes, I thinkii learned th...Hey there, Geordie Girl, yes, I thinkii learned the in/on thing from this blog myself! I grew up in Minnesota, but both parents were New Yorkers, so I never know which verbal ticis from where!Acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15256043549235285772013-02-17T20:57:07.213-05:002013-02-17T20:57:07.213-05:00@ adz cronies mozilla - As a longtime New Yorker. ...@ adz cronies mozilla - As a longtime New Yorker. I did nearly what you expected for 23D. I left the square blank for on/in line!<br />Geordiegirlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60514483723368235572013-02-17T17:33:51.450-05:002013-02-17T17:33:51.450-05:00 Oh so many wheelhouses. Oh so many wheelhouses.Caseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13399314307590534022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84004709949475651212013-02-17T07:09:30.988-05:002013-02-17T07:09:30.988-05:00i made very excited in this blog i like it so much...i made very excited in this blog i like it so much i read it in my free time when i was getting bore but this as read this i feel entertainment by my self <a href="http://mobilenprice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> Mobile </a>Bhunesh Kumarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04035727194925641010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3415463171312948582013-02-17T01:26:06.070-05:002013-02-17T01:26:06.070-05:00Before reading these comments, had no idea that st...Before reading these comments, had no idea that standing ON line was a NY thing. Indeed, &quot;stood on line&quot; was one of my first fills, amended only when I got to &quot;semis.&quot; Had the M and A of Mozilla and just the X of xtreme games.Although it was clearly web related, it was once I got the Ox that I solved them. As clues go, it was fine--though I&#39;m a little allergic to company or product names in crosswords (I try to avoid visible labels on clothes, too). By the way, agree that X Games is the right terminology, but got it immediately anyway. My one problem: didn&#39;t know what Okie and Sooner had to do with each other, so while I technically got Rubato through crosses, I had no idea if was correct. <br /><br />Overall, this needed enough thought to make it interesting and enjoyable. And, while I did definitely notice the overuse of &quot;in&quot; and plurals (was wondering if the former was a theme), and some of the clunkers, there were enough good clues/answers to make up for them.SharonNYCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84675355095256627722013-02-17T01:21:27.661-05:002013-02-17T01:21:27.661-05:00Before reading these comments, had no idea that st...Before reading these comments, had no idea that standing ON line was a NY thing. Indeed, &quot;stood on line&quot; was one of my first fills, amended only when I got to &quot;semis.&quot; Had the M and A of Mozilla and just the X of xtreme games.Although it was clearly web related, it was once I got the Ox that I solved them. As clues go, it was fine--though I&#39;m a little allergic to company or product names in crosswords (I try to avoid visible labels on clothes, too). By the way, agree that X Games is the right terminology, but got it immediately anyway. Rubato stumped me. Grr. <br /><br />Overall, this needed enough thought to make it interesting. And, while I did definitely notice the many &quot;ins&quot; and the many plurals, and some of the clunkers, still found it enjoyable. <br /><br />SharonNYCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60857691259535164922013-02-17T00:42:39.885-05:002013-02-17T00:42:39.885-05:00At this hour no one will notice, but next Sunday i...At this hour no one will notice, but next Sunday is Purim, which is Hebrew for &quot;Lots.&quot; The Lots in this context refer to a deadly lottery.<br /><br />I enjoyed this Saturday&#39;s puzzle, except for INXS, which could have been any combination of four letters as far as I am concerned.OISKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16808675378318214461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8655215017185427782013-02-16T22:22:33.502-05:002013-02-16T22:22:33.502-05:00@Ellen S - As you surmised, I don&#39;t know anyth...@Ellen S - As you surmised, I don&#39;t know anything about Verdi but you made my point perfectly - MCV is a perfectly good RRN, it&#39;s just wrong. &quot;Tosca&quot; could have premiered in 1105 as easily as 1900for all I know, and the composer of &quot;The Consul&quot; was no help at all. But the fault lies in my ignorance, not the puzzle - thanks for pointing that out.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87052317352602616822013-02-16T20:54:06.574-05:002013-02-16T20:54:06.574-05:00I loved the cluing for SLEDDOG, IPHONES (but the s...<br /><br />I loved the cluing for SLEDDOG, IPHONES (but the stuff crossing those two, horrid, horrid); GOOSE and DEMS. Shocked, simply shocked, at NOONERS. @ACME, @Tita: I don&#39;t think one should discuss one&#39;s NOONERS. A lady never TELLs.<br /><br />I don&#39;t understand how &quot;Like a lot&quot; is FATED. Sounds like a stalker&#39;s reasoning. Oh... is it like &quot;casting lots&quot;? (Ah, I see @Tita, like one&#39;s &quot;lot&quot; in life.) Oh, okay, then thank you for the nice puzzle, Mr. Ashley. Much better than if you&#39;re a stalker.<br /><br />I thought it was impossibly difficult until I didn&#39;t. When I started, the only thing I could put in was SENTA Berger, and I think that was it for about an hour, except for some incorrect Os I think I accidentally put in. Not even attached to any words. After I removed them (thanks to the &quot;check&quot; function; I figured if I had Os that should have been something else, those were probably the culprit) I began the maddening journey to finally put, as my last answer, 60D END. Minimum of googling -- only to check whether RUBATO was a real word. From somewhere INXS came to me; believe me I have no idea what they are. And no, @Rex, not &quot;everybody&quot; knows that Gloria Estefan song, but somehow I got the album name. (@Elle54, at 2 1/2 hours, you beat me!)<br /><br />Last thing: According to IMDb there are two movies! &#39;NEATH Arizona Skies, 1934, and &#39;NEATH the Arizona Skies, 1962. Both starring John Wayne. <br /><br />Last last: @Dirigonzo, MCV for the premiere of Tosca would be 1105. Even if you don&#39;t know anything about Verdi, you probably suspect he wasn&#39;t composing a thousand years ago. Ellen Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473445503706985149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35929731825071035432013-02-16T20:03:47.789-05:002013-02-16T20:03:47.789-05:00Back from Aruba and waiting for Chinese food in NY...Back from Aruba and waiting for Chinese food in NY!<br /><br />I liked the puzzle, which I didn&#39;t do until around 7 pm. It was easy-medium for a Saturday for me. Exciter and sss were the dogs, but there were plenty of nice answers here. Learned rubato and Fozzie Bear, I had no idea....<br /><br />Good Saturday, and happy to be back in the cold.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89911301155547585152013-02-16T19:54:18.676-05:002013-02-16T19:54:18.676-05:00PP and I ahd this done in under 2 hours so I was e...PP and I ahd this done in under 2 hours so I was expecting a &quot;too easy for a Saturday&quot; rating. Unfortunately we finished with OWS because, despite what @Tita said, MCv works just fine as an RRN - it&#39;s wrong and it doesn&#39;t make any sense but we didn&#39;t let that stop us from sticking with it.<br /><br />NOONERS are about all I can stay awake for these days.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76776821136780012722013-02-16T18:38:25.193-05:002013-02-16T18:38:25.193-05:00This week&#39;s relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week&#39;s relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak I&#39;ve made to my method. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week&#39;s median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.<br /><br />All solvers (this week&#39;s median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Mon 6:43, 6:08, 1.10, 86%, Challenging<br />Tue 7:07, 8:28, 0.84, 8%, Easy<br />Wed 13:03, 11:52, 1.10, 73%, Medium-Challenging<br />Thu 15:15, 17:02, 0.90, 27%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 22:21, 21:27, 1.04, 65%, Medium-Challenging<br />Sat 25:03, 24:55, 1.01, 61%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:59, 3:40, 1.09, 84%, Challenging<br />Tue 4:25, 4:54, 0.90, 13%, Easy<br />Wed 7:27, 6:34, 1.13, 83%, Challenging<br />Thu 8:05, 9:43, 0.83, 17%, Easy<br />Fri 13:25, 12:23, 1.08, 64%, Medium-Challenging<br />Sat 15:57, 14:39, 1.09, 74%, Medium-Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90120293885273173142013-02-16T18:18:16.908-05:002013-02-16T18:18:16.908-05:00Greetings from San Miguel de Allende.
First solv...Greetings from San Miguel de Allende. <br /><br />First solve on the NYTimes iPad app whichnI rather liked. <br /><br />I like any Saturday I finish, interspersed with walks around this ancient, hilly town. I liked the puzzle just fine. Wanted TEXTBOX for FIREFOX for the longest time but got the thumbs up at the end.<br /><br />@Rex That dude CAN write!JohnVnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39947833662275214102013-02-16T18:05:48.337-05:002013-02-16T18:05:48.337-05:00Little Bear in the Minarik/Sendak I Can Read serie...Little Bear in the Minarik/Sendak I Can Read series is also lightly tinted orange.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65204972442154388342013-02-16T17:52:02.830-05:002013-02-16T17:52:02.830-05:00Neath the AZ Skies ... Damn it!Neath the AZ Skies ... Damn it!AZPETEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07011706117458656055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37935484673426427362013-02-16T17:46:48.254-05:002013-02-16T17:46:48.254-05:00@Stephen:It&#39;s Alfa and not Alpha because this ...@Stephen:It&#39;s Alfa and not Alpha because this alphabet needed to be used internationally, i.e., among allied forces. This from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a>, which on the whole is a great read:<br /><br />&quot;In the official version of the alphabet, the non-English spellings Alfa and Juliett are used. Alfa is spelled with an f as it is in most European languages because the English and French spelling alpha would not be pronounced properly by native speakers of some other languages – who may not know that ph should be pronounced as f. Juliett is spelled with a tt for French speakers, because they may otherwise treat a single final t as silent.&quot;Joseph Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4056582918020260422013-02-16T16:44:35.344-05:002013-02-16T16:44:35.344-05:00I believe the ALFA comes from the NATO spelling al...I believe the ALFA comes from the NATO spelling alphabet. The last letter is pronounced &quot;ZULU&quot;, and the first is &quot;ALFA&quot;. Why it&#39;s misspelled, I don&#39;t know.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911901473993027184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42705603619296316842013-02-16T16:18:47.404-05:002013-02-16T16:18:47.404-05:00Well, managed about two thirds today, which is fin...Well, managed about two thirds today, which is fine. I got MCM and MENOTTI without any trouble, natch. Good point re SKEETER. Had SEMIS before the downs so no New Yorkese problem. The NE almost a complete blank. <br /><br />Jason Keller on Jeopardy! won $25 at ACPT last year. @treedweller. I think of FOZZIE as brown, too. Sort of that Steiff toy shade. <br /><br />And now for something completely different: I, too, am hesitating before comitting to ACPT. Couple of weeks ago someone was looking to share. Any takers? I wouldn&#39;t mind sharing with another woman as that train ride at night to Manhattan a bit tough. Plus I could hang out longer and play banangrams. I am trying to toggle together air miles and $ to get my plane tix. Let me hear if anyone interested.<br /><br />I&#39;ll get to the Red Cross puzzles when in NYC and I have a printer. I hope they stay up for a while. Please, Rex.Sparkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149915526159432838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16374101516324777322013-02-16T16:15:35.813-05:002013-02-16T16:15:35.813-05:00Can someone please explain: &quot;Zulu&#39;s count...Can someone please explain: &quot;Zulu&#39;s counterpart = alfa? Many thanks.bigsteve46noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18241409401343948082013-02-16T16:07:04.248-05:002013-02-16T16:07:04.248-05:00I rarely disagree with Rex, but I loved this puzzl...I rarely disagree with Rex, but I loved this puzzle. <br /><br />Relatively little crosswordese (ASA, ADZ, SSS, AGHA), obscurities (DONA, SENTA), or no-one-says-this fill (EXCITER). <br /><br />Plus, a keener attention to misdirection and ambiguities than the lackluster cluing of this week. Highlights for me: &quot;Like a lot?&quot; &quot;Part of a plot,&quot; &quot;Sooner alternative,&quot; &quot;Clipped,&quot; &quot;Giveaway,&quot; &quot;Shadows.&quot; <br /><br />I love multi-word answers, and this had some long ones that were not contrived phrases. (LITTLEBIRD, LOADEDUPON, STOODINLINE, REALNAMES.)<br /><br />Nits: I wouldn&#39;t call Fozzie Bear orange, really. He&#39;s more of a brown. Now Animal and Ernie - they&#39;re orange. Also, seems like their should have been a slang indication in the clue for SKEETER.<br /><br />I agree with Medium difficulty, as this took me an hour, which is two levels below DNF for me. (10 minutes! Screw you, Rex!)Joseph Bnoreply@blogger.com